Toulouse Graduate School

Educational Psychology

Doctoral Degree Program

Graduate opportunities

Federal and state mandates regarding effective
practices are changing how corporations, organizations
and programs operate today and in the future.

At the University of North Texas, the Doctor of
Philosophy degree in Educational Psychology focuses on
generating sophisticated data for key decision-makers.
This data can be used:

To help corporations remain competitive

By faculty members to advance other fields using
critical research methods and develop new approaches

To demonstrate the value of programs serving
children and families or social policy

The Department of Educational Psychology offers
challenging course work that examines research design,
human development, measurement, family studies, policy,
evaluation and statistics, gifted and talented individuals,
sport pedagogy and sports and exercise psychology. You
can focus your studies on research, measurement and
statistics; human development and family studies; gifted
and talented; sport pedagogy or psychosocial aspects of
sport and exercise.

Our faculty members obtain grants, write books and
publish scholarly, peer-reviewed journal articles. They’ve
been recognized by or serve as officers and leaders for
many national, international and regional academic
professional organizations including the:

American Educational Research Association

National Council on Family Relations

Society for Research in Child Development

Association for Applied Sport Psychology

American College of Sports Medicine

American Alliance for Health, Physical
Education, Recreation and Dance

National Association for Gifted Children

Council for Exceptional Children

Challenge yourself

We provide you opportunities to present research
at national and regional conferences, publish journal
articles, apply for grants and participate in professional
activities with faculty mentors. You can also collaborate
with scholars in the department’s other graduate
programs such as the special education program.

The College of Education is accredited by the
National Council for Accreditation of Teacher
Education (2010 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Suite 500;
Washington, D.C. 20036; telephone 202-466-7496).

This accreditation means we meet or exceed strict
academic standards for excellence in education. The
college is also one of Texas’ top producers of teachers,
administrators, counselors and other school professionals.

Research centers
and opportunities

The Center for Interdisciplinary Research and
Analysis offers opportunities for practical involvement
with program evaluation and methodological/statistical
consultation. The staff assists with the conception,
design, methods, analysis and interpretation of research
projects, proposal writing, evaluations, dissertations
and theses.

The internationally renowned Center for Parent
Education provides research and outreach to parent
and family educators, family support professionals and
other students. Ongoing projects include:

Attending UNT

Admission requirements

You must meet the admission requirements for the
Toulouse Graduate School®, including a minimum
3.4 GPA on master’s degree work, and provide the
department with the following:

Official GRE scores that are less than five years old

Personal résumé or curriculum vitae

Three letters of recommendation from academic or
professionally applicable sources

Personal statement of career objectives explaining
how this doctorate advances those objectives

Program acceptance is based on a holistic review of
these materials, and first priority is given to applicants
who are strong in all areas.

Degree requirements

A master’s degree in a related field is preferred but not
required. You must complete a minimum of 63 credit hours
beyond a master’s degree (90 credit hours beyond a bachelor’s
degree) to be a candidate for the Ph.D. degree. This includes:

9 credit hours of educational psychology
department core courses

21 credit hours of educational psychology degree
core courses

21 credit hours of concentration area courses (research,
measurement and statistics; human development and
family studies; gifted and talented; sport pedagogy
or psychosocial aspects of sport and exercise)

3 credit hours of supervised research practice

9 credit hours of dissertation

Financial assistance

A number of teaching fellowships and assistantships
are available to help you pursue your education. These
opportunities include working with professors on
research grants and projects or as a teaching assistant,
teaching undergraduate classes, and supervising
student teaching.

You apply for these positions by submitting an application
to the department. We also offer several scholarships.